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Mt. Baldy

Over the holiday I was in SoCal visiting family and had the opportunity to climb with two of my favorites. Rob Mulligan, who I’ve know for the past 14 years and Jill Carpenter, who I’ve know for almost as long.

Rob “The Sensei” has had a big influence on my climbing over the years. It was nice to re-connect and get out to some real rock.

We decided to check out a boulder at Mt. Baldy that our friend Chaz and some others have been developing since we only had a partial day to climb.

The crew scoping an undone line on the boulder.

Jill sending Mission Control V5.

Rob on the project.

Mission Control V5

Chaz on the project.

We all sent Mission Control and made some good moves on the project. We got to check out a few undeveloped boulders as well that look like they could be good with a little work.

The rock at Mt. Baldy ranges from ok to excellent with granite reminiscent of Magic Wood in Switzerland. Boulders down by the river are polished like those by the river in Magic Wood. There is more development going on as locals find more boulders hidden under trees or in the brush. If you visit this area make sure you go with a local as some of the boulders are on private property or are accessed by hiking through private property.

NO TRESPASSING

Look closely and you will see where the land owner has smeared axle grease on the climbing holds of this classic Baldy boulder. Some idiot tagged the word “fag” below. This is the area where the famous Goat Roper climb is. The land owner has fought with climbers about access to these river boulders for a long time. It’s unfortunate.

I also got a chance to check out a new gym in SoCal called The Factory. It’s a pretty large bouldering-only gym owned by Louie Anderson. If you are in SoCal I highly recommend checking it out. They have an amazing hold selection and the setting is pretty good too.

The Factory Bouldering.

As always, it’s never enough time. I had aspirations to check out some bouldering in Joshua Tree with Rob and Jill when I was down there but it never happened. I’ll have to make a return trip another time.